Girard police see a summer spike in burglaries

Girard police see a summer spike in burglaries

GIRARD

Police said a summer spike in burglaries and breaking and entering is among the highest they have ever seen.

Since July 22, police have received 22 reports of burglary or breaking and entering.

“We’ve never experienced anything like this,” said Capt. John Norman.

According to previous years, Girard police recorded 36 reports of burglary or breaking and entering in June, July and August of 2011, compared to 33 reports of the offense during the same months in 2010. As of Aug. 27, police have received 49 reports for this year’s summer months.

Norman said police usually average six to nine incidents per month for the whole year, with a slight increase in the summer months. He said this summer is unusual because of the pattern of homes being hit, the frequency, as well as the victims.

In many cases, Norman noted, burglars and victims know each other. But with these, “victims don’t know the suspects,” he said.

Over the weekend, police had two reports of burglary. The most recent came on Monday morning around 3:30 a.m.

According to reports, a man was sleeping at a residence along East 2nd Street when he heard a knocking from next door. When he walked outside, he found a man trying to force the door open. The resident said he owned the residence next door and he keeps audio recording equipment there.

After being spotted, the resident said the would-be burglar ran into a nearby Dairy Queen parking lot where an SUV was waiting with three other people before it drove away.

The second call came on Saturday, after a woman came home to find $940 of electronics missing from her home on Taylor Avenue, said police.

Norman said some suspects in the burglaries have been arrested, but most are not connected with each other. Based on their interviews, Norman believes the increase in stolen property is a result of drugs.

“They’re pointing to opiates,” he said. “They’re looking for money for drugs because its cheap and its plentiful.”

Norman said area pawn shops have been very cooperative with investigations. He believes most of the stolen property is now sold on the street for cash, so tracking the items to a source can be difficult.